Raw Food Book Reviews

Our “Raw Philosophy” and Disclaimer:As
you may have noticed, we do not talk about “how to eat the raw diet the
right way”. Our focus has, and always will be, on information,
resources, and news on the raw food lifestyle, with a focus on ways to
make raw food simple and fun.

While we do not advocate any particular raw path, we embrace whatever you have found that works for you.

As always: All are welcome here.

That little disclaimer aside, some of our readers might not know that there are different schools of “Raw Thought”, so to speak, out there.

When
we first got into the raw food diet and lifestyle, we thought “Now here
is a simple diet. Just eat your foods raw!” No more calorie counting,
carbs vs. proteins, yin and yang, and so on.

Boy were we wrong.

We
can safely say that when you start reading raw books, websites, and
other resources, you will find almost more differing opinions than in
the normal diet world!

No matter what you read and choose to
believe, we recommend that you don’t let it stop you from eating raw and
enjoying the foods you want and that work for you.

Over our raw journey, we prescribed to so many different raw philosophies. We were going back and forth every time we read something new. It drove us crazy and we almost stopped eating raw completely.

Now, we are not saying that these differing opinions are all bunk. We definitely recommend that you eventually ease into reading these opinions and experiment to see what works for you. If you are new to raw foods, just start simple and keep your transition slow.

Now, on to the review!

Matt’s Premise in the Book

Matt Monarch recently sent us a copy of his newest book, Raw Success: The Key to 100% Raw Vegan Longevity. In it, Matt aims to answer this question: why are the raw food pioneers dying between ages 80 and 93? Shouldn’t raw foodists be living well past 100?

His
primary argument stems from the food philosophy of Dr. Norman Walker, a
raw pioneer who touted the benefits of vegetable juices and who might
have lived to be 118. Matt believes that if he lived that long, he must
be doing something right.

Matt’s premise is that your body is
always reaching for (and obtaining) a more clean state on a raw food
diet. For instance, the longer you have been eating raw, the less food
your body will want. And if you follow what your body is telling you,
you will become more sensitive to heavier foods and environmental
toxins. A long-term raw foodist, Matt claims, can eventually start aging
by becoming too clean and not keeping up with flushing out the incoming
and ever-present toxins from years of accumulation.

Matt’s Solution: How to Achieve 100% Raw Vegan Longevity

His solution to this dilemma is roughly the same plan he layed out in his first book, Raw Spirit. In a nutshell, here is Matt’s raw recommendations for long-term, raw vegan success:

Eat less food. Especially over time as your body becomes more clean.

The body adapts to what we eat and do not eat. For example, if someone who has been raw for seven years eat a hamburger, the results could be disastrous.

Environmental toxins have a more damaging effect on a cleaner body.

You stabilize by becoming consistent in what you eat day-to-day. He calls this Stabilizing Out. This is basically your raw “set-point”.

If we cut out nuts and seeds entirely, we would be too sensitive to the environmental toxins of our current planet.

If we eat a little more than we are used to, we could feel sluggish. Thus some people may start to feel more tired on the raw diet when they eat more than they are used to, but that’s because their body is now used to eating less food.

How do we solve this problem and reach a more optimal diet of balance so we can live longer? According to Matt, we need to balance Our Food, Environment, and Cleansing.

For Food, he highly recommends vegetable juicing, which he believes is necessary for long term raw success.

For Environment, he recommends you find the optimal environment for you. For example, if you live in the city, you are going to require more colonics and a higher amount of nuts to combat the extra toxins.

For Cleansing, he believes the #1 reason people do not succeed on the raw food diet long term is because of lack of regular colonic irrigation. For a long term raw fooder, he still recommends at least one colonic a month minimum.

Eating large volumes of sweet fruit will increase fermentation from excess sugar and create an acidic condition in the body.

Eating less quantity is the key to youth. Do this slowly over years, though. Don’t rush into it.

So
there you are! A quick summary of Matt’s new book and his raw
philosophy for success. Of course, there is much more to it than our
quick summary. We found it an interesting read and recommend you pick it
up if you want to broaden your knowledge of the raw food movement.
Matt’s philosophy is very specific and it is difficult to just summarize
it all in one review for you.

Raw Food Gurus Who Believe Otherwise

Now, to be fair raw journalists, we are going to say that there are many, many other raw philosophies out there. They each think they are very correct and the others are very incorrect.As an example, perhaps the most opposing view of Matt’s is the 80/10/10, high-fruit diet, with its largest proponent (and creator) being Dr. Douglas Graham. If you want to check out the opposing viewpoint to Matt’s philosophy, Dr. Graham recently released a book called the 80/10/10 Diet.

Basically,
Dr. Graham’s diet is composed of very high amounts of sweet fruits,
while consuming very low amounts of raw plant fats (nuts, seeds,
avocados) with a high amount of greens. Daily excercise is stressed, as
well as sunshine and clean air. Most proponents of this philosophy do
not advocate juicing, dehydrating, or colonics (which they are very
against).

Please understand that we neither endorse,
nor are we against, any particular raw diet philosophy. Our goal is to
offer a safe place for all raw foodists to come and enjoy this wonderful
lifestyle, in any way they choose to.

It
is rare that we will ever bring up the different raw philosophies in
our posts, but when a book comes our way, we will do our best to
summarize and review it for you.

You have the power to make your own decisions.Your body is your own, not anyone elses.

My name is Heidi, and I have been eating a raw food diet since 2004. Before I found raw food, I have tried all sorts of different ways of eating including: standard vegetarian, fare, vegan, food, macrobiotic, Marilu Henner's programs, food combining, slow food, and more, I followed along on social and did everything I could. I understood the idea of Raw Food since I first learned of it in 2000, but it wasn't until 2004 that I started making raw food a daily part of my life.

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